First Page:

E text prepared by Al Haines

Transcriber's note:

In the original book, each right hand page had its own header.
In this e book, each chapter's headers have been collected into
an introductory paragraph immediately following that chapter's
introductory poem. (The left hand pages' header was the
chapter's title.)

JOHN THE BAPTIST

by

F. B. MEYER, B.A.

Author of
Paul: A Servant of Jesus Christ
The Prophet of Hope
Saved and Kept
etc., etc

London: Morgan and Scott
Office of The Christian
12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C.
And may be Ordered of any Bookseller
1911

By Rev. F. B. MEYER, B.A.

THE "BIOGRAPHICAL" SERIES.

ABRAHAM: Or, The Obedience of Faith.
ISRAEL: A Prince with God.
JOSEPH: Beloved Hated Exalted.
MOSES: The Servant of God.
JOSHUA: And the Land of Promise.
DAVID: Shepherd, Psalmist, King.
ELIJAH: And the Secret of his Power.
JEREMIAH: Priest and Prophet.
JOHN THE BAPTIST.
PAUL: A Servant of Jesus Christ.

Preface.

The life and character of John the Baptist have always had a great
fascination for me; and I am thankful to have been permitted to write
this book. But I am more thankful for the hours of absorbing interest
spent in the study of his portraiture as given in the Gospels. I know
of nothing that makes so pleasant a respite from the pressure of life's
fret and strain, as to bathe mind and spirit in the translucent waters
of Scripture biography.

As the clasp between the Old Testament and the New the close of the
one and the beginning of the other; as among the greatest of those born
of women; as the porter who opened the door to the True Shepherd; as
the fearless rebuker of royal and shameless sin the Baptist must ever
compel the homage and admiration of mankind.

In many respects, such a life cannot be repeated. But the spirit of
humility and courage; of devotion to God, and uncompromising loyalty to
truth, which was so conspicuous in him, may animate us. We, also, may
be filled with the spirit and power of Elijah, as he was; and may
point, with lip and life, to the Saviour of the world, crying, "Behold
the Lamb of God."

Contents

I. THE INTEREST OF HIS BIOGRAPHY
II. THE HOUSE OF ZACHARIAS
III. HIS SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
IV. THE PROPHET OF THE HIGHEST
V. THE FIRST MINISTRY OF THE BAPTIST
VI. BAPTISM UNTO REPENTANCE
VII. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE MESSIAH
VIII. NOT THAT LIGHT, BUT A WITNESS
IX. "HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE"
X. THE KING'S COURTS
XI. "ART THOU HE?"
XII. "NONE GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, YET..."
XIII. A BURNING AND SHINING LIGHT
XIV. SET AT LIBERTY
XV. THE GRAVE OF JOHN, AND ANOTHER GRAVE
XVI. YET SPEAKING
XVII. THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS

JOHN THE BAPTIST.

I.

The Interest of his Biography.

"John, than which man a sadder or a greater
Not till this day has been of woman born;
John, like some iron peak by the Creator
Fired with the red glow of the rushing morn.

"This, when the sun shall rise and overcome it,
Stands in his shining, desolate and bare;
Yet not the less the inexorable summit
Flamed him his signal to the happier air."
F. W. H. MYERS.

John and Jesus Contemporary History Anticipation of the Advent.

The morning star, shining amid the brightening glow of dawn, is the
fittest emblem that Nature can supply of the herald who proclaimed the
rising of the Sun of Righteousness answering across the gulf of three
hundred years to his brother prophet, Malachi, who had foretold that
Sunrise and the healing in His wings.

Every sign attests the unique and singular glory of the Baptist. Not
that his career was signalized by the blaze of prodigy and wonder, like
the multiplication of the widow's meal or the descent of the fire of
heaven to consume the altar and the wood; for it is expressly said that
"John did no miracle." Not that he owed anything to the adventitious
circumstances of wealth and rank; for he was not a place loving
courtier, "clothed in soft raiment or found in kings' courts... Continue reading book >>